Royalties, fees and interest paid abroad from Argentina bear withholding on a presumed profit, 21% reverse-charge VAT and, for group payments, FX waiting periods. Here are the rates by payment type, the grossing-up rule, INPI registration, the treaties in force and how to claim them — with a worked example.
When an Argentine company pays a foreign supplier, licensor or lender, it must withhold Ganancias (Argentina’s income tax) from the payment and pay it to ARCA (the federal tax agency, formerly AFIP). The foreign recipient — the beneficiario del exterior — files nothing in Argentina. The tax is 35% applied to a profit the law presumes, without allowing proof to the contrary: 60% of a technical-assistance fee, 80% of a royalty, 90% of most other payments. That produces effective rates of 21%, 28% and 31.5% on the gross amount.
On top of that sits 21% IVA (value added tax) on imported services, paid by the Argentine client under a reverse charge. Treaties can cut the withholding, but only 24 are in force and neither the United States nor Paraguay has one. Registering technology contracts with INPI (the industrial property institute) decides which rate applies. Access to dollars through the MULC (the official foreign-exchange market) is still conditional for payments to group companies. This guide covers each layer as of November 2026, with a worked example.
The Income Tax Law (Ley de Impuesto a las Ganancias, consolidated text of 2019) defines a beneficiario del exterior as anyone who receives Argentine-source income abroad, directly or through an agent in Argentina, or who receives it in Argentina without proving stable residence there. Whoever pays must withhold 35% of the net income and pay it to ARCA as a pago único y definitivo — a single, final payment. No return, no deductions, no refund if the foreign company made a loss.
Three practical consequences follow. First, the obligation sits with the Argentine payer: if it fails to withhold, ARCA collects from the payer, who then has to recover the amount from the foreign party. Second, “payment” includes crediting the amount in the accounts or capitalising it, not only a bank transfer, so accruing an intercompany fee can trigger the withholding. Third, the withholding is reported in SIRE, ARCA’s electronic withholding system, and the foreign party receives a withholding certificate it can use for a foreign tax credit at home.
Law and practice: Ley de Impuesto a las Ganancias t.o. 2019 (Decree 824/2019), art. 102 (35% final withholding, definition of beneficiario del exterior, payer’s liability), art. 103 (rate on presumed net income) and art. 104 (presumptions). Dividends and branch profits follow art. 97 (7%) instead.
| Payment to a beneficiario del exterior | Presumed net income | Withholding on the gross amount | If the payer bears the tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividends and branch profits | — (own rule, art. 97) | 7% | 7.53% |
| Interest: borrower is a local bank, supplier credit for imported capital goods, or lender is a supervised bank in a cooperative, non-low-tax jurisdiction | 43% | 15.05% | 17.72% |
| Interest: all other loans, including most intra-group loans | 100% | 35% | 53.85% |
| Technical assistance, engineering or consulting not obtainable in Argentina, contract registered with INPI | 60% | 21% | 26.58% |
| Patents, trademarks, other licences and assistance obtainable locally, contract registered with INPI | 80% | 28% | 38.89% |
| Copyright on works registered with the Dirección Nacional del Derecho de Autor | 35% | 12.25% | 13.96% |
| Fees and salaries of people working in Argentina for up to 6 months a year | 70% | 24.5% | 32.45% |
| Rental of movable property (equipment, machinery) | 40% | 14% | 16.28% |
| Rental of real estate in Argentina | 60% | 21% | 26.58% |
| Sale of assets located in Argentina by a foreign company | 50% | 17.5% | 21.21% |
| Everything else: most services, unregistered technology contracts | 90% | 31.5% | 45.99% |
Two rules sit behind the table. Where one contract mixes technical assistance and licences, the higher presumption (80%) applies to the whole payment. And the 60% and 80% presumptions apply only to contracts that meet the Technology Transfer Law (Ley 22.426), which in practice means registration with INPI; an unregistered licence or assistance contract falls into the residual 90% bucket and bears 31.5%.
Law and practice: LIG art. 104(a)–(i). The 43% interest presumption requires, for non-bank borrowers, a lender supervised by its central bank and located in a jurisdiction that is not low- or no-tax, or one that exchanges information with Argentina without bank secrecy.
Foreign providers usually quote net of local taxes, so the Argentine company agrees to pay the withholding itself. The regulation then treats the tax assumed as additional income of the foreign party: the payment is “grossed up” (acrecentamiento). Mathematically, the effective rate becomes the nominal rate divided by one minus that rate. A 28% royalty withholding becomes 38.89% of the net amount the licensor receives; 31.5% on services becomes 45.99%; 35% on intra-group interest becomes 53.85%.
The income tax assumed is deductible for the Argentine company when it relates to taxable income. The regulation exempts from the gross-up only interest on foreign financing for industry, extractive activities and primary production. The gross-up also feeds through to VAT: the Supreme Court held in Puentes del Litoral (2014) that the income tax the payer takes on forms part of the VAT base even when it is not on the foreign invoice.
Law and practice: Regulatory Decree 862/2019, art. 227 (acrecentamiento where the tax is borne by a third party). CSJN, “Puentes del Litoral S.A. c/ DGI”, 2014.
The Technology Transfer Law requires acts by which a foreign party transfers, assigns or licenses technology or trademarks with effects in Argentina to be registered with the Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (INPI). Registration does not make a contract valid or invalid; its weight is fiscal. Without it, the 21% and 28% effective rates are not available, and several treaties tie their reduced royalty rates to a registered contract.
INPI rewrote the procedure with Resolution 38/2026, enforceable since 10 February 2026. The registry is now declaratory: the applicant files under sworn statement, INPI presumes the contract exists, and agreements signed abroad no longer need apostille or consular legalisation. The old list of excluded services (administration, finance, marketing, HR, legal) has gone, and scope is tied directly to the two categories in article 104(a) of the income tax law. That widens what can be registered but moves the risk of classification to the applicant: a management fee registered as “technical assistance” to get 21% instead of 31.5% will be judged by ARCA, not by INPI.
Law and practice: Ley 22.426 and Decree 580/1981; INPI Resolution 38/2026 (Boletín Oficial 2 February 2026), repealing Resolution P-328/2005.
Services rendered abroad and used or exploited in Argentina are subject to IVA when the client is a responsable inscripto (a VAT-registered taxpayer). The client becomes the taxpayer: it self-assesses 21% when the service ends or is paid, whichever is first, pays it to ARCA and recovers it as input VAT. Licences of patents, trademarks and know-how count as services for this purpose; copyright of writers and musicians is excluded.
| Situation | IVA treatment |
|---|---|
| Service rendered abroad, used in Argentina, client is a responsable inscripto | 21% self-assessed by the Argentine client (reverse charge); creditable as input VAT |
| Interest on loans from banks in Basel-standard jurisdictions | Reduced rate of 10.5% |
| Licences of patents, trademarks and other IP used in Argentina | Taxed as a service; copyright of writers and musicians excluded |
| Digital services (SaaS, streaming, hosting, online advertising) to a non-registered client | 21%, collected through the card issuer or payment intermediary |
| Digital services to a responsable inscripto | Reverse charge, as for any imported service |
| Base when the payer grosses up Ganancias | Includes the income tax assumed (Supreme Court, Puentes del Litoral, 2014) |
Digital services — hosting, SaaS, streaming, online advertising and similar automated services — supplied from abroad to clients that are not responsables inscriptos (consumers, monotributo taxpayers, exempt entities) bear 21% collected by the card issuer or payment platform. Argentina presumes use in the country when the IP address, SIM country code, billing address or paying bank account is Argentine.
Law and practice: VAT Law t.o. 1997 (Decree 280/1997), art. 1(d) and (e), art. 3(e) and its last paragraph, art. 4(g), art. 5(h) and (i), art. 28 (10.5% on qualifying foreign bank interest).
| In force (24) | Signed, not in force | No treaty |
|---|---|---|
| Australia, Austria (in force 12 June 2026), Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (2024), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey (2024), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom | Luxembourg | United States, Paraguay, Ireland, Singapore, among others |
Argentina’s treaties typically cap royalties and technical assistance at 10–15% and interest often at 12%, well below the domestic 28–35%. On dividends the domestic 7% is usually already below the treaty cap — the Spain treaty allows 10% or 15% — so the domestic rate applies. The newest additions are China and Turkey (2024) and Austria (12 June 2026); a protocol to the France treaty entered into force on 22 October 2026. There is no comprehensive treaty with the United States, only an information-exchange agreement, so US licensors and lenders bear the full domestic rates.
Since 18 June 2026 the procedure is ARCA General Resolution 5855/2026, which repealed the old RG 3497 and RG 2228 and their Argentine-format form that foreign tax offices often refused to sign. Now the beneficiary gives the payer, before the first payment:
Issued by its own tax authority for the period, in that authority’s usual format.
Apostille or consular legalisation, unless the foreign authority has an online verification system.
Signed by the beneficiary only: identity, tax number, contract, type of income and the treaty article claimed.
Kept on file by the payer, by a sworn translator, if ARCA asks.
A certificate without stated validity lasts 12 months; renew before the next payment after expiry.
Without a valid certificate the payer withholds at the full domestic rate.
Law and practice: ARCA RG 5855/2026 (Boletín Oficial 3 June 2026), applicable to payments from 18 June 2026. Treaties in force per the Ministry of Economy and ARCA lists; the OECD multilateral instrument (Ley 27.788) also applies to several of them.
An Argentine subsidiary pays its parent US$100,000 a year for a patent and know-how licence, registered with INPI. Compare a US parent (no treaty) with a Spanish parent, where article 12 of the 2013 treaty caps royalties for patents, know-how and technical assistance at 10%.
| US$100,000 patent royalty to the foreign parent | US parent, no treaty | Spanish parent, treaty |
|---|---|---|
| INPI-registered licence: presumed net income | 80% × 35% = 28% | Treaty cap 10% (art. 12.2.c) |
| Ganancias withheld by the Argentine company | US$28,000 | US$10,000 |
| Parent receives | US$72,000 | US$90,000 |
| If the licence is not registered with INPI | US$31,500 (90% × 35%) | Treaty rate at risk |
| If the Argentine company bears the tax (grossed up) | Gross US$138,889; tax US$38,889 | Gross US$111,111; tax US$11,111 |
| IVA reverse charge, 21% | US$21,000 (US$29,167 if grossed up); creditable | Same |
| FX access, related party | 90 days after accrual | 90 days after accrual |
The treaty saves US$18,000 a year on the withholding alone, and US$27,778 if the subsidiary bears the tax. The IVA is a cash-flow cost, not a final one, for a responsable inscripto. Note what the Spanish route requires: a Spanish residence certificate delivered before the first payment, a registered contract, and a parent with real substance — the treaty benefit goes to the beneficial owner, and ARCA looks hard at conduit structures. Trademark royalties fall outside the 10% band of the Spain treaty and are capped at 15%.
Law and practice: Spain–Argentina treaty of 11 March 2013, art. 12(2)(c) and (d) and art. 10(2). Figures illustrative; they ignore the bank-debit tax and the FX spread.
Payments to a foreign group company must be at arm’s length, and Argentina treats any jurisdiction with corporate tax below 60% of its lowest corporate rate (25%) as low-tax — Paraguay, with 10%, included. Transactions with entities there fall under the transfer pricing rules whether related or not. ARCA General Resolution 5903/2026 replaced the old RG 4717 for fiscal years starting on or after 1 October 2026, with higher thresholds adjusted yearly for inflation:
Informative return (F. 2668)
Above ARS 1,500 million of controlled transactions in total, or ARS 300 million in a single one.
Transfer pricing study
Above ARS 3,000 million in total, or ARS 600 million in a single transaction.
Master file
Group revenue above ARS 500,000 million plus the same transaction thresholds.
Low-tax counterparties
Paraguay, among others: transfer pricing applies even without common ownership.
Three deduction rules catch foreign groups. Fees, royalties and interest owed to a related foreign party, or to anyone in a low-tax or non-cooperative jurisdiction, are deductible only when paid (or by the filing date of the return), not when accrued. Interest on related-party financial debt is capped at 30% of taxable profit before that interest and depreciation, with a carry-forward. And royalties for trademarks and patents owned abroad are deductible only up to limits set by regulation.
Law and practice: LIG art. 17 (arm’s length), art. 20 (low-tax jurisdictions), art. 24 last paragraph (deduction on payment), art. 85 (interest cap), art. 92(m) (royalty limits). ARCA RG 5903/2026 (Boletín Oficial 30 September 2026).
Withholding settled, the company still has to buy dollars. Since the April 2025 easing, payments for services to unrelated foreign providers can be made once the service is rendered or accrued. For contrapartes vinculadas (related parties), services and royalties can be paid only 90 calendar days after rendering or accrual — a rule the Central Bank kept in Communication A 8481 of 14 September 2026, even where a change of creditor removes the relationship.
Interest and principal on related-party financial loans remain the tightest category: depending on when and how the loan was made, access may require Central Bank prior approval, with exceptions for refinancings and new long-dated loans. Every access comes with sworn statements, including the 90-day bar on using the MEP or CCL parallel markets before or after. We cover the full map, including dividends and BOPREAL, in our guide to getting money out of Argentina.
Law and practice: BCRA consolidated “Exterior y Cambios” rules; Communications A 8226 (April 2025) and A 8481 (September 2026).
Many of our clients run regional service or IP companies from Paraguay. On payments from Argentina that structure has three costs: no treaty, so fees bear 21–31.5% and interest 15.05–35%; low-tax status, so transfer pricing applies to every transaction and deductions wait until payment; and IVA reverse charge in Argentina regardless. A Paraguayan hub works for business that is genuinely regional; as a channel for Argentine profits it is often more expensive than paying the parent directly. The broader trade-offs are in our guide to Argentina–Paraguay structures, and the corporate tax picture in our note on Argentina’s 2026 tax reform.
Technical assistance, licence, interest, service or digital service — the rate follows.
For assistance and licences, before invoicing starts.
Residence certificate and sworn statement under RG 5855/2026.
Net-of-tax clauses mean gross-up: price it in.
21% reverse charge when the service ends or is paid.
Benchmark intra-group fees; check the RG 5903 thresholds.
90 days for related-party services and royalties.
Pay through SIRE and give the beneficiary its certificate.
Income Tax Law t.o. 2019 (InfoLEG) · Regulatory Decree 862/2019 (ARCA library) · VAT Law t.o. 1997 (InfoLEG) · ARCA RG 5855/2026 (Boletín Oficial) · INPI Resolution 38/2026 (Boletín Oficial) · ARCA — double tax treaties · Ministry of Economy — treaties in force · Spain–Argentina treaty (BOE) · Marval — RG 5903/2026 transfer pricing · EY Argentina — INPI registration · Allende & Brea — BCRA A 8481
28% of the gross royalty if the licence is registered with INPI (35% on a presumed 80% profit), or 31.5% if it is not. A treaty can reduce it, for example to 10% for patents under the Spain treaty.
31.5% for most services. Technical assistance, engineering or consulting not available in Argentina, under an INPI-registered contract, bears 21%.
When the Argentine payer bears the foreign party’s tax, the tax assumed is added to the income. A 28% withholding becomes 38.89% of the net payment, and 31.5% becomes 45.99%.
Yes. A VAT-registered Argentine client self-assesses 21% on services used in Argentina and recovers it as input VAT. Digital services to unregistered clients are taxed through card issuers and payment platforms.
No. Payments to US and Paraguayan recipients bear full domestic withholding. Argentina has 24 treaties in force, including Spain, Brazil, Chile, the UK, China and, since June 2026, Austria.
Under ARCA RG 5855/2026, which replaced RG 3497: the beneficiary gives the payer an apostilled residence certificate from its own tax authority and a sworn statement before the first payment.
Yes, through the official market, but payments of services and royalties to related parties can be made only 90 calendar days after rendering or accrual.
Rarely. Most treaties allow 10% or more on dividends, so the domestic 7% applies.
Dividends, BOPREAL, related-party payments and what is still restricted.
What is law and what is only promised.
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